BY MIKE MARZOLF
Special to the Tribune
During her freshman season, Conner Keith has played limited minutes as the back up point guard for the Barton women's basketball team
Saturday night, Keith's minutes increased as starter Jaylin Stapleton left with a possible concussion.
Keith not only made the most of it, she ended up playing the role of hero.
The freshman from Hill City hit a 3-pointer with two seconds left to give the Cougars a 54-51 win over Independence at the Barton Gym.
Those three points alone were more than she averaged going into the game – 2.4 points per contest.
"We ran a ball screen for her where she had an opportunity to drive it, pass it or shoot it," Coach Clark said. "I have a lot of confidence in her ability to shoot the ball."
Keith ended with a career-high 11 points, playing every minute after Stapleton, the Cougars' leading scorer, left midway through the third period.
The game was not pretty. In fact, the offensive stat line would not be one that produces many wins. Barton hit just 16-of-41 shots and turned the ball over 23 times.
But that didn't matter.
The Cougars trailed pretty much the entire first half, and down five, 24-19, at half.
It wasn't until Taylor Regan made a pair of free throws with 1:06 left in the third period that Barton took a 35-34 lead. That ended a 6-0 run by the Cougars to end the period – all at the free throw line as Regan made 5-of-6 during that stretch.
It was the first lead for Barton since a 6-5 lead midway through the first period.
In the final period, Barton extended that lead to 41-35 when Irene Chukwudi made a field goal with 7:18 to play.
Barton still led by six, 49-43, after a pair of D'Shonda Hunt free throws with 3:36 left in the game. But Indy would close strong, tying the game with 53 seconds to play at 51-all.
The two teams traded empty possessions, setting up the Keith heroics in the final seconds.
Indy's Macie Price missed a long 3 with 10 seconds left and when Regan grabbed the rebound, Barton called an immediate timeout to give the Cougars the ball on their end of the court with 7.9 seconds to play.
Keith got the inbound pass, dribbled to the top of the key and when her defender went under a screen, she stepped back and let it fly from about 23 feet. Nothing but net.
Independence had one last chance with two seconds after a timeout gave them the ball in front of its bench. But the Pirates did not get a shot off.
Keith led Barton with those 11 points, followed by Chukwudi with 10. Regan scored nine on 7-of-9 free throw shooting and led Barton with seven rebounds. Keith led Barton with five steals and two assists.
The Cougars close out the first semester with a trip to Chanute Monday to take on Neosho County. The Panthers are 4-9 overall this season and 1-2 in the Jayhawk. Tip is 5:30 pm.
Barton 54, Indy 51
Indy 11 13 10 17 – 51
Barton 8 11 16 19 – 54
Independence (6-5, 1-3) 51
Mikkelson 2-7 0-0 4, Kinnard 2-3 4-6 8, Collyer 1-9 0-0 2, Markowska 2-5 0-0 5, Reeves 4-8 4-5 12, Price 0-5 0-0 0, Goodluck 1-4 0-0 2, Trotter 2-5 0-1 5, Gray 1-5 0-0 2, Crockett 0-3 6-8 6, Jordan 2-3 0-0 4.. Totals – 17-57 14-20 51.
Barton (8-2, 2-1) 54
White 2-3 1-2 6, Stapleton 0-2 4-6 4, Regan 1-3 7-9 9, Miller 2-3 1-2 6, Chukwudi 5-11 0-0 10, Turney 1-4 0-0 2, Hunt 0-2 3-4 3, Keith 4-7 0-0 11, Ndao 0-4 0-0 0, Davis 1-1 1-2 3, Nichols 0-1 0-0 0. Totals – 16-41 17-35 54.
3-pointers – Indy 3-20 (Markowska 1-3, Trotter 1-3, Collyer 1-8, Kinnard 0-1, Gray 0-1, Price 0-4), Barton 5-12 (Keith 3-6, White 1-2, Miller 1-2, Turney 0-2).
Rebounds – Indy 35 (Reeves 7), Barton 35 (Regan 7). Assists – Indy 10 (Reeves 3), Barton 9 (Keith 2). Steals – Indy 11 (Kinnard 5), Barton 9 (Keith 5). Blocks – Indy 3 (3 with 1), Barton 7 (Chukwudi 3).
Turnovers – Indy 17, Barton 23. Fouled Out – None. Technicals – None.
